jacobs



(No Model.) '2 Sheets-Sheet 1'. J. A..`JACOBS..

LETTER BOX.

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2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

J. A. JACOBS.

LETTER BOX. No' 391W@ 5 Patwfb- 12 18H66.

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JEAN A. JACOBS, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

LETTER-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 397,552, dated February12, 1889.

Application tiled November 8, 1387. Serial No. 254,656. (No model.)

T 0 @ZZ 10h-0122. may concern:

Be it known that l, JEAN AUG-UST JACOBS, a subject ot the Queen ofEngland, and a resident of Seymour Street, Euston Square, London, N.lV., in England, have invented a new and useful Improvement in PostalBoxes and the Like, of which the tollowingis a specication.

This invention relates, principally, to boxes or receptacles for therecept-ion ot postal-letters and the like, and in general to such boxesor receptacles as are provided with a slit or opening through whicharticles or things may be passed into said boxes or receptacles, thelatter being intended for the sate keeping of said articles or things.

The principal object oli' the invention is to prevent the extraction oi'letters or other articles from such postal boxes or other receptaclesaforesaid through the slit or opening thereof, through which saidletters or articles have been passed into the box or receptacles.

It is known that in the case ol ordinary letter-boxes, letters, rizo.,may be abstracted therefrom through the slit or opening through whichthey have been passed by means ol' a string, wire, tape, or the like,carrying a small weight with some adhesive substance thereon, saidweight being lowered through lsaid slit onto the letters and drawn upwith such letters, dac., as may adhere thereto.

A minor purpose of the invention is to deteetif a similar device to thatabove described has been attempted to be used by preventing thewithdrawal of the tape or weight from the letter-box or otherreceptacle.

The following is a description of the invention in relation to aletter-boxcapable of being fixed to doors or thelike, substantially asordinary letter-boxes.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

f Figure l represents a vertical cross-section of 5 is a side view oisaid mechanism as shown in Fig. 3, these three views heilig' on thesaine scale as Fig. 2.

A represents in cross-section a door, it' the box be such, as isattached to a door, or the fore plate ot the box.

L is the face-plate surrounding the slit O.

B is the tiap covering the slit O, the latter being pivoted at a to lugsor wings on the face-plate L, hereinafter described.

The plate L carries, tixed to or formed with it, three or more plates orwings, l) c d, Fig. 2. The upperl or inner plate, t), is substantiallyflush with the edge ot' the slot O, and the wings d b c run parallellengthwise ot the lower edge dicularly round parallel to the sides ofthe slot, terminating round about the pins a, to forni the bearings ofsaidApins. The lower or horizontal parts of the wings d l) c are formedas parts ot cylinders, the axes ot which are coincident with that of thepins a.

of the slot and are bent perpen The 'liap B consists of a plate, e,torming the flap proper, said plate adapted to lie when the flap isclosed before the slit O, as shown in Fig. l, and close the saine. Viththe lower edgeof said tlap is xed or formed the plate f, extendingrearward and continued at the sides of the tlap to form wingsterminating round about the pins a, and serving for the pivoting of theiiap to the plate L that is to say, to the wings b c d thereof, asaforesaid. Parallel to the wings f are the wings g and h, the same beingcontinued upward parallel to the side extensions of said wings andterminating likewise about the pins a. The wings g 72v are connected toeach other and to the wingf by the web j and side webs, 7.-.. Thehorizontal parts of the wings f g A7L are so shaped as to be parts ofcylinders, the axes ot' which are coincident with that of the pins a,and the wings f g h are so distanced from said pins that when the iiapis closed the wings g h arrive and pass into the spaces K I', betweenthe flaps b c d, and the flaps c d arrive and pass into the spaces K l,between the wings f g 71. The lupper edge of the front plate, e, beforementioned, is con- IOO 2, and above the said edge, so as to be clearfrom the path thereof, is a douurwardly-projecting rim or iiange, O',attached or formed ou the plate L. As near to the hinge of the llap B asit may conveniently be placed, according to the thickness oi' the door,&c., A', is pivoted the arm F, having the slot G therein, and the flap Bis provided with the pin H, gearing into said slot G. The pin H isextensible to or from the pivots c, and may for this purpose besupported by a screw-threaded pin or pins, J, attach-ed to the .rearweb, j, passing through perforations in a plate carrying said pin H,there being nuts Z on each side of said plate screwing on the pin orpins J, so that the piu-.plate H may be fixed at any position along thepins J. The raising and lowering of .the llap B about its pivots atherefore raises and lowers, respectively, the arm F about its pivot,Vand this varm operates the mechanism shown in Figs. '3, fl, and 5,forthe purpose or purposes hereinafter shown.

E is the wall ofthe box, (shown in Fig. 1,) and F the counterpart of thearm F, being connected to said arm bybeing fixed on the same pivotal pintraversing the wall E.

Fig. 8 shows the arm F in the position it occupies when the flap B isclosed, and Fig. Il shows the arm F in the position it occupies when theilap B is open, as in Fig. 2.

The double lever Q is pivoted at Q. The upper end thereof carries thehorn Q3, the inner edge, Q, ofw'hich is shaped as the are of the circlewhose center is the pivotal center of the arm F when the rear side, Q5,of the horn lies against the stop-rail U', as in Fig. 4C. Atthe base otthe horn is the recess Q, equal'in breadth to .the edge F2 of the arm Fand bounded by the two noses QT QS. The lever Q being in the positionshown in Fig. 3, the lower end, F2, oi the arm F engages in the recessQ. XVhen the arm F commences to press againsttlie nose Q, the lever Q is-inoved about itspjivot Q until the end of the larm F is enabled'to'pass the nose QS and a1- rive inthe curve Q, whiclrwill occur as therear edge, Q5, of the horn Q3 arrives against the stop-rail U Furtherupward movement of 'the arm "F vwill not cause any movement of the leverQ', `but will cause the same to be retained in the position given to it.In the lower end of the lever Q is the slot Q2, and lin said slotengages the pinR of the lever R', `p i'voted on the end of the shaft orrod R2, `passing through the wall E and traversing the box or receptacleat or near to the front wall thereof, Fig. l. To this rod is connectedthe llap or plate D, adapted to be raised so as .to form a barrieracross the box or receptacle, dividing vthe same into two compartiments,E vE2.

M and N are ,guide-plates, the lirst serving asan abutment for the outeredge ofV the plate D,vr the k"other as a coverfor closing the space vbfetwe'en the front wall, A, and the rod B'ymoving the lever R from'theposition shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 4 the `plate L.

plate D is moved from the position shown in full lines in Fig. l to thatshown in dotted lines. By this means the communication between the uppercompartment, E and the lower compartment, E2, is temporarily closed.

The movement aforesaid of the lever R is entirely made by and during thepressure of the arm F against the nose Q8, and the arm F will havepassed out of the recess QG and onto the curve Q'l before the jaws f h gof the flap B are disengaged from those, Z'J c d, of the The flap D willtherefore be closed before the flap B is opened, and while the latter isopen the flap D cannot be opened, since it is locked in its position.rhein however, the Hap B is fully closed, the Hap D is fully opened.

Since the rfiap B is, owing to its construction, comparatively heavy, acounter-weight is combined therewith to balance the weight ofthe flap B,and this 'may be 'conveniently contrived as VJfollows: The arm F isconnected by a rod, P, with 'one arm. of a bell-crank lever, S', theother arm of which'is connected by a rod, T, to the weight U, which ispreferably'guided between rails U U2. Since, also, the arm F may bemoved to the position shown in Fig. Je when the lap B is fully open, andthe arm F could not in suoli position act elliciently to lock the hornQ3, the following additional lock mechanism is preferably coinbinedtherewith:

The lever R is provided with the extending nose R3, the under side, R4,of which isV curved to be as an arc about the centerS of the bell-cranklever S when the lever R isin-the position` shown in Fig. elf-that is tosay, when the tlap D is closed. The bell-crank lever S carries the noseS2, the outer edge, S3, of which is circular about the center S, and isadapted to ride under and so form an abutmentfor the nose of the lever'R'. The underedge, S, of the nose S'2 is also so shaped'that the n oseR3 may lie'therein, as sliown'inFigL, when the Hap D is open, and mightincase of emergency (as, for instance, the breaking .of the lever Q) beraised by such nose S2, so as to close and lock the flap D. Thus by thetime the arm F has passed beyond the curve Q'L the nose S2 has alreadyarrived under the nose R3 and the flap D isheld locked.

The Iiap Dis preferably provided with a serrated or toothededge at D. Itmay, however, be replaced by two llaps closing together against each andsimultaneously operatedgor such 4other -means may be employed, providedthat the llapor equivalent Dis closed when the ilap B is open, and, viceversa, is opened when the flap B is closed.

In order to place a letter in the improved letter-box, the flap B ispushed back until the nosing' e arrives beyond the inner edge of theplate b and the letter is dropped in. During this movement, however, theflap D is closed and theletter drops' uponthis ilap. 'Vhen the ap B isdropped and closed, theilapD opens and the letter drops into the lowerIOO eer/,55a p e space, Il', now, it be sought to extract such .letterthrough the slit O, and a Weight, with adhesive substance, is loweredinto the box by a string, tape, or the like through slot the Weight willat first rest upon the closed fiap D, and after elosin g the flap B Willdrop into the space E2. By closing the flap B the string, however, isheld in the jaws formed by the plates l) e d f g 7L, aforesaid, andcannot be withdrawn unless the :liap B be opened, when the flap D Willclose and the Weight or letter attaching thereto will arrive againstlthe edge of said flap D and cannot be Withdrawn. The Weight cannottherefore be extricated and Will remain in the receptacle E?, detectingthe tampering With the letter-box. To prevent the string or the likefrom being passed over the hinge of the iiap B, the iiange O iscontrived, as shown, upon the plate L or otherwise, to forni a cornerinto which the end of the string would pass if pushed up, as described,said corner thus preventing the string from passing over the flap B. Thesides of the iiap are protected by the jaw-like closing of the aforesaidplates Z1 c df g 71 extending up the sides of 4the flap and slit.

That I claim isl. ln receptacles for postal-letters and other objects,the combination of an upper chainber, E', a lower chamber, E2, a flap,D, between said chambers, an orifice, O, opening into the upper chamber,a Wing, l), substantially as set forth, beneath said orifice, a pivotedflap, B, adapted to close said orifice, and inechanisin connecting saidiiaps B and D, whereby the initial stage of the opening of the flap Bcauses the complete closing and locking of the :liap D before the fiap Bhas passed the edge of the wing b.

2. ln a receptacle consisting of two superposed parts, E E2, thecombination of a flap,

D, adapted to separate said parts, an orifice, O, in the upper part, E,plates b e d about said orifice, as set forth, flap B, adapted to closesaid orifice, said iiap having plates f g h, adapt-cd to engage withplates l) e d, as set forth, and mechanism adapted to be operated by thelifting of said ap B to raise the flap D into its closed position andthere lock the saine before Iche plates f g 7L are disengaged fromplates b c d, for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, with an orifice closed by a hinged flap, of aflange, O', above said hinge, substantially as and for the purpose Setforth.

1l. The combination, with the iiaps B and D, of inechanisin comprisingthe lever F', adapted to be raised by the opening of the flap B, leverQ', havingy recess Q, with noses QT Q8 and horn Q3, slot Q2 in saidlever Q', rod R2, carrying flap D, lever R', fixed on said rod andhaving pin R, engaging in slot Q2, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, with the iiaps B and D, of lever F', adapted to beraised by the opening of flap B, lever Q', havin g recess Q5, with nosesQ7 Q8 and horn Q3, the edge QA1 being shaped as described, slot Q2 insaid lever Q', rod R2, carrying flap D, lever R', having pin R, engagingin slot Q'2 and nose R3, the edge R4 being shaped as described, leverS', having nose S2 with edges S4, shaped as described, rods P and T, andcounter-Weight U, substantiallyas and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing Witnesses.

J. A. JACOBS.

H. l. HADDAN, R. HADDAN.

